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January 24, 2009

Mazz: Source Says Red Sox Offer Possible Two-Year Deal To Varitek

According to a baseball source, the Sox have formally presented an offer to Varitek's agent, Scott Boras, that could appease the catcher's desire for a second guaranteed season. While the precise value or term of the proposal was unclear, the Sox could ensure Varitek a second year by guaranteeing it outright or making it attainable through an option.

In the latter scenario, Varitek could trigger the option through reachable incentives (like at-bats or games played), or the club could grant him a straight player option for the 2010 season. Another possibility would involve a dual option, first giving the Sox the choice of bringing back Varitek next season (at a higher number) and, subsequently, Varitek the right to return on his own volition (albeit at a lower number than the team's option).

The current offer to Varitek was made within the last three or four days, sources said, and it was unclear whether Varitek and Boras were presented with a deadline of any kind.

14 comments:

Hard to evaluate since there aren't any specific terms (or even dollar values), but a two year contract wouldn't hurt roster flexibility too much, and 2009 Bard wouldn't be much better than 2009 Tek.

Whatever happens, Tek isn't the catcher of the future, and I trust Theo to be working on getting that catcher (perhaps mid-season or next year, when the economy craps out even more and other teams look to unload payroll).

Hopefully this two-year deal is accompanied by an announcement that the Red Sox have created the first official Major League "catching coach" position to go along with the pitching/batting/baserunning coaches...

I have no issue with a two-year deal either. Worse case, the Sox release Varitek at some point and eat his remaining salary and, from what happened with Rent-a-wreck and potentially Lugo, they can afford to do this. Best case, he gets his average up another 30 to 40 points, hits a few more home runs, and continues to be a force behind the plate (rather than at the plate).

There is no doubt that Varitek's career is near the end. Expect Theo to be working something in the background (if he isn't already).

I'm with Amy.But then, you probably knew that. About both of us.I must admit though, I sure hope we land another respectable bat on the bench to hit for him in key situations, and use that bat knowing that Bard can finish the game.

I don't get what all the talk revolves around Tek...He's not going to hit 30 hr's , he never has, he's not going to drive in 90, he never has, he's not going to hit 300, he never has...But all of a sudden his bat makes a difference????

Maybe the talk about two years is softening me to one year. If Tek can accept perhaps splitting his time with Bard -- please stop him from batting LH!! -- maybe that will be alright. (I do want Canadian Kottaras on the team though!)

A report (Olney, I think) says it is roughly 5-6 per for 2 years -- so the Sox spend what they were prepared to spend if Tek had taken arb and the Cap'n gets more than one year like he wants.

If that deal is for real, I cannot imagine Tek waiting more than 2 seconds before signing.

If he comes back and sucks as bad as last year (or worse), we'll truly see how unsentimental Theo can be if Tek needs to be cut loose.

Terms of the offer:WEEI.com has learned from source close to the negotiations that the two-year offer made by the Red Sox to catcher Jason Varitek is for $5 million for the first year, along with a club option for $5 million or a $3 million player option for season No. 2 of the deal. It is believed incentives would be part of the agreement. The Red Sox have set a deadline for Varitek to accept the offer, although it is not known what that is.

id hate to say this but WE DO NOT NEED TEK. i dont have much confidencein BARD but tek is past his prime. coupled with the fact that his batting numbers looked just as bad as my GPA-2.7 and also that he was marginal with his mask last season. i think in the long run if he declines were better off. but if he accepts we might only get 100 games out of him with .25 batting-not worth $5 million in my mind. tek has done great stuff for our organization but just like MJ and Favre tek needs to move on